1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Depressing night of movie watching

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by ScribePharisee, Jul 19, 2008.

  1. ScribePharisee

    ScribePharisee New Member

    I'd seen "Flight 93" but never "World Trade Center". My son, staying the weekend had picked up both and we watched them last night. The family emotions just were pretty damn heavy.

    And seeing as how it made me relive that week and the numerous times I just sat in front of the TV and sobbed, I wonder why we have one shred of empathy for terrorists, naked prisones at Abu-Gharib, torture at Guantanamo or selective airport search and screens.

    It also made me think - what was the most emotional moment you had that week?
    I have two:

    1) Dan Rather's breaking down when they recovered one of the rescue workers, noting that the chant "USA, USA!" cranked up as they pulled them out of the ruins.

    2) My mom telling me that the metro fire department in their town was collecting for the relief effort at a traffic light. My brother, who makes a pretty decent salary but doesn't just throw money around, gave the guy a $100 bill. The fireman looked stunned and yet appreciative. He thanked him in a broken, sort of awestruck voice, took the money and my brother drove off. Bro got about two blocks down the road and said it all hit him at that point and he pulled over and just began crying uncontrollably. It made me think how it just get us in so many ways.
     
  2. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    Nobody has empathy for terrorists. So you have two choices: 1. Retract your statement, or 2. Move to the front of the line as the biggest prick on the board.

    We do not like torture of prisoners for several reasons:

    1. Only some prisoners are terrorists, and some are completely innocent. Read the following . . . and see if the story does not make you sick.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/26/AR2007042601569.html

    2. We either agree to abide by Geneva Conventions or we don't. Saying we do while acting in a different way destroys our credibility. People like Jessica Lynch were treated humanely while they were captive . . . BECAUSE the Geneva Conventions by and large serve a purpose.

    3. As has been proven time and again, torture DOES NOT FUCKING WORK. People will say anything --- even listing the linemen of the Green Bay Packers as their collegues (sound familiar???????) --- to make the torture stop. So if you cannot trust the information --- and if getting misinformation leads you on wild goose chases that HURT YOUR CAUSE --- then why torture?
     
  3. bigpern23

    bigpern23 Well-Known Member

    WFW
     
  4. ScribePharisee

    ScribePharisee New Member

    So you're saying that everyone in our Cuban prison was just out shopping for dates and raisins at the local market when crazed American servicemen, under secret orders from the president, apprehended them with no due cause?
     
  5. shockey

    shockey Active Member

    "united 93" was powerful. haven't seen "wtc."

    too many moments to recount them all. i was in a denver hotel room the morning it happened, after covering giants at broncos in mnf opener. friend in denver rang my room to tell me to put on the tv, that i wouldn't be getting out of denver on my morning flight home. put on the tv in time to see the second plane hit the wtc. stunning. like watching oswald shot live.

    three days later, near the end of the drive back to ny with two other reporters, we could finally see the ny skyline as we approached the george washington bridge. a cloud of smoke still hovered where the wtc had stood. i thought the skyline looked like one of my boys after they'd lost their two front teeth. :'( :'( :'(

    arrived home to learn from mrs. shockey that the death toll in our town was in the 30s, including the father of little man shockey's good buds and his soccer coach. in a town this size, we've come to know or know of at least 20 of the families who lost a relative. :'( :'( :'(
     
  6. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    READ THE BLEEPING POST. AND READ THE BLEEPING LINK.

    "Some" may be terrorists. "Some" may be 100 percent innocent. But who the fuck knows? These people are not charged with anything. They do not get to see any evidence against them. They do not get lawyers. Just because someone in this horseshit administration decides they are an "enemy combatant" they can be locked up indefinitely without ever hearing why. That's how they operated in 1930s Soviet Union. You're OK with that, are ya?

    Even the Supreme Court has told the administration that they can't pull this shit. A few innocent people have finally been released. Others --- like the taxi driver --- are dead. Does this shit not mean anything to you?

    Please . . . next time just go see "Mamma Mia!" instead of reliving 9/11 and summoning your inner Toby Keith ("We'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American way . . . ")
     
  7. NoOneLikesUs

    NoOneLikesUs Active Member

    Week? Try months of the same freaked out state.

    I also have no desire to dig up any of that anytime soon.
     
  8. Big Circus

    Big Circus Well-Known Member

    This is a random moment - and not even remotely the most powerful that week - but I still remember it. I didn't watch that MNF game the night before and my roommate told me about Ed McCaffrey's gruesome leg injury, so I wanted to watch SportsCenter the next day to catch it. Turned on the TV when I woke up and it was obvious I wouldn't be watching any leg injuries that day. Again, totally random, but I still remember it - just like a lot of moments that day and in the aftermath.
     
  9. schiezainc

    schiezainc Well-Known Member

    United 93 should be required viewing once 9/11 becomes as big a part of HS education as Pearl Harbor and WW2 currently are.
     
  10. ScribePharisee

    ScribePharisee New Member

    If you're a democrat, then you know that Mr. Obama has urged a ramping up of the "war" in Afghanistan. Which, he says, is the center of the WAR on terror. If we're at war, and we capture combatants, then they go back to the enemy only after the war is over or a negotiated swap occurs. I haven't heard of either. Figuring you're not much of a Bush/McCain fan, I thought I'd offer you Obama's perspective as a stage for all of this.
     
  11. schiezainc

    schiezainc Well-Known Member

    Why does every thread turn into a political debate?

    It's not that tough to keep politics out of some of these. I mean, seriously.

    Saying "Oh, I saw United 93 and thought it was a good movie" does not automatically warrant a "Fuck you hippie!" retort.

    Sometimes I hate the internets.
     
  12. imjustagirl

    imjustagirl Active Member

    Try leaving then.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page